Fighting with My Family (2019) * * *

Directed by:  Stephen Merchant

Starring:  Florence Pugh, Vince Vaughn, Dwayne Johnson, Jack Bowden, Simon Frost, Lena Headey

There are wrestling fans and then there are the Knights.   Based in a small blue-collar town in England, the Knight siblings don't just have fights, their father gives them pointers on how best to choke out the other.   The daughter Saraya (Pugh) and son Zak (Bowden) dream of joining the WWE.   The family runs a small wrestling school which puts on shows featuring all of the family members and some friends who are also students.    They love the business, and know the official rules and unwritten rules of competing in the squared circle inside and out.    One day, Hutch Morgan (Vaughn), the WWE's head trainer, comes calling and offers the siblings to try out.    Saraya makes the cut, Zak does not, and soon Saraya is on her way to becoming Paige, one of the most beloved wrestlers of the past decade in WWE.

As a wrestling fan for the past thirty plus years, the show works when you suspend disbelief and go along with the story.    WWE used to pretend to be an actual sport, but switched over to "sports entertainment" because it gave them huge state tax breaks.    The curtain slowly lowered on Vince McMahon's empire, and nowadays it is a multi-billion dollar cash cow.   Paige's WWE career was brief, but memorable, and sadly the movie doesn't reveal that she is now retired due to cumulative neck injuries after a five-year in-ring career.    But, Fighting with My Family isn't about the bad stuff, it lovingly shows us Paige's family of lovable goofballs and an almost inside view of the rigorous training it takes to become a WWE star.

Saraya is ghostly white with a goth look.   But she impresses Hutch enough at the tryout to invite her to train with other hopefuls in Florida.    Hutch makes it abundantly clear the rookies will be put through a physical and mental hell in order to achieve their goal of being on the active roster.    Paige, riddled with self-doubt (especially when she meets her prettier and more athletic female counterparts) and guilt over being chosen over Zak, is overwhelmed by the scope of the training and nearly quits, but in Rocky-like fashion, she pulls herself up and improves enough to win an opportunity at a televised match for the then-Divas title.

Zak, however, is not forgotten.   He struggles mightily with his defeat, sliding into depression and envy at his sister's success, even though he has a loving girlfriend from a proper family and a newborn child.    His follow-up attempts to persuade Hutch to change his mind are equally pathetic and crushing.    He knows he has to alter his life plans, but doesn't know if he wants to continue training his friends to become wrestlers.

Dwayne Johnson produced and co-stars as himself, giving the audience a peek into the WWE persona which helped launch his movie career.   He is charismatic, self-deprecating, and entertaining.   Other WWE stars are featured in walk-ons or silent cameos, but the movie belongs to the Knights.    The father Ricky (Frost) is an ex-con eking out a living as the head of a small wrestling organization, but at least he isn't robbing anymore.   Julia (Headey) was once a junkie, but thankfully found love with Ricky which helped her pull out of her tailspin.    They adore each other, and they have a warm family dynamic with their two children. 

The ending, in which Paige finally gets to show her stuff on WWE Monday Night Raw, is not as triumphant as you would expect.    The movie oddly decides to showcase her match with the arrogant Divas champion A.J. Lee as an actual sporting event in which Paige overcomes her inexperience to win the title.    It's as if the WWE (whose studio made the film) is somehow trying to keep the cat in the bag that wrestling is scripted, even after showing us for nearly two hours that it indeed is.    It is an unusual choice, but not a deadly one.   In reality, just Paige showing up on worldwide television is already a win for a young woman from such a humble background.    WWE may be scripted, but its wrestlers are stellar athletes who put their bodies and health on the line to entertain their loyal fans.  It is an athletic soap opera which is now treated with respect instead of derision, and Fighting with My Family treats us to an entertaining soap opera of its own.